Cleaning of rooms



July 18, 1933. RILEY 1,919,132

CLEANING OF ROOMS Filed April 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1933- A. RILEY 1,919,132

CLEANI NG OF ROOMS Filed April 6, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jilly 18, 1933 1 UNI D ST T ALLAN RILEY, or FILLONGLEY,1I}TEAR oovnnrnY, ENGLAND V ,GLEANING or .JaooMs I Application filed April 6, esa'serm no; eoas srana in Great Br itain Aipril '7, 1931. v

This invention relates to dwelling-houses or other buildings, and has for oneof its obj ects to provide improved means for enabling I a floor to be quickly cleaned or similarly acted upon. Afurther object is to enable all the floors of rooms on the same level to be easily,quickly and completely cleaned, it necessary, in one operation; The term cleaned is used to cover vacuum-cleaning, etc. i

According to one feature, a floor-cleaning, polishing or like device is mounted upon a movable carriage guided by'means adjacent a side of the floor. v

According to a further feature, a method of cleaning or otherwisetreat'ing the floors of a number of rooms on a common level consists in passing the guided cleaner fromone room to the next through openings in the walls. In the accompanying drawings, I

Figure l is a perspective sectional view of a fragmentary part of a building having a number of rooms on the same level the floors of which are acted upon in accordance with the invention, I V

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective representation partly in section, of a modified form of the building and floor-cleaning or like apparatus adapted in accordance with the invention, 1 Figure 3 is a perspective view of oneform of self-actuated and self-propelled cleaning apparatus, a Figures etand 5 are'diagrams illustrating alternative methods of traversing the floor with the cleaning apparatus shown in Figure Figures 6 and 7 are fragmentary sections showing alternative guiding and driving means for the cleaning apparatus,

Figure 8 is a perspective View of a bed showing diagrammatically one methodo-f suspending it clear of the floor so thatthe clean:

' ing device can pass beneath it, and

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a corner of v a room adapted inaccor'dance with a feature of the invention.

In the arrangement shown in Figure l, the walls 2, 2, between different rooms on the same level are each provided with an opening 3 the heightof which is substantially that of a normal skirting-board whilst the loweredge is flush with the floor as shown. I

Such openings enable a low-built but relapolishing, washing,

OF ICE tively wide floor-cleaning or like device 4 mountejdon a carriage 5 to pass from one room to another, being guided by .eans atthe side of rooms in a'manne'r later described." v I The advantages of the invention become rooms arranged in a straight line,'the rooms behalf this width, in which case itniay be Inoved up one side'of the setof rooms, re versed in the end room and returnedidowii the other side of the set, thus enabling the furniture in the various rooms to 'bemoved asidev to giveita clear run." I k In furtheralternative methods of traversingthe floor, the cleaner may be caused to move" across the width of the roomand ateach endof its, travel to move forwardlyin the manner indicated by the arrows and dotted lines-in Figure 4:, or ,thecleaner, while traversing the widthof thefioor, can also be caused simultaneously tomove forwardly as indicatedin Figurefi. To permit'of this the cleaning device 4 is relatively narrow andincorporated witha saddle 40 mounted for reciprocation on a carriage 5 (Figure 3) which is substantially the width of the floors to be acted upon. This carriage is adapted for moving longitudinal ly of the floor. For thispurpose, wheels or rollers 6, 6 areprovided on the ends of the carriage and these are, guided. on rails 7, 7 extending the lengthiof the roomyadjacent each side wall. One of the rails is" provided with rack teeth 8,"and a pinion 9 coaxial with one ofthe wheels 6 engagesthese teeth so that when the pinion is rotated the ca'r-' riage will be moved along the. rails 7 The saddle 40 is slidable on the carriage and engages shafts 10 and 11 on which the rollers 6 are mounted. In the arran ement shown in Figure 2, involving a buil ing specially constructed to incorporate, the features of the invention, there are arranged, on, the same 'level, a num ber'of rooms 1E2, 12 on either side of a censo more apparent when there are a number of of the building and into which the rooms may open. The dividing. walls 2 of the rooms, and also those 14:, 14 between the end rooms and the passage, are provided with openings 3, Sat their lower ends extending the full width of the respective walls. Such an arrangement provides a closed circuit for the floor-cleaningdevice, such as that shown in Figure 3, which can be moved on guide rails 7, 7 through the rooms at one side 'of' the passage, across the latter at the end,

and then. back through the rooms on the other side of the building. The cleaning device, when not in use, is conveniently stored under a false floor 15 at one endof the passage which may then be blanked off by a door 16. In each ofthe endrooms the clean 7 ing device :moves in a curved path which leavesuntonched a portion in one corner which may be utilized to contain a fixture such as a fire grate or kitchen range or a heavy ornon-portable piece of furniture, or

the end rooms, maybeshaped to the curve swept by the cleaner. a w The floor-cleaning device may be avacuumbleanerd .or any other suitable device.

' 1 The cleaning device may be pushed by one. or. n ore persons, vwould pass through doorsin the various'walls. V l' The rails 7,? may be sunk in the floor or disposed behind skirting-boards 17 :as in Figure 6, the powerbeing supplied from a suspended cable 18 or from one of the runsi s s- In another arrangement as shown in Fig:

' ure 7, the cleaning device, not shown, is attach'ed to the end of an arm 19 projecting through a slot in skirting-boards from an electrically-propelled trolley 20 running on 7, 7, and propelled by a pinion 9 along the M0118, all of which is disposed behind the skirting-boards. In this case the cleaning device could run on rubber-tired wheels or rollers and the, carriage on which it is mounted could be the full width or slightly more than half the width of the room, in which latter case another-carriage could be provided to The invention can equally Well be applied for cleaning the floor of a single room instead of a number thereof. In this case the guide rails 7, 7 can be disposed on the surface of the floor near the low-er end of the skirting as shown in Figure 9; Whennot in use the carriage and cleaning device can be concealed in a casing or box such as 24 at one end of the room.

, As it may be unnecessary to clean all the floors on the same level, for example, a floor of a bathroom, boXroom and the like, the cleaner maybe arranged to pass beneath such rooms these being provided with false" floors raised above those over which'the cleaner-v travels inthe manner shown at 15 in Figure 2.

cleaner, the lattcrmay be caused to travel beneath the grate and hearth, these for this purpose being fixed in a raised position above the floor.

- By the invention the floor of a room or the floors of a number of rooms on the same level can bequickly and completely cleaned with little or no labour on the part of the opera U11 ite d compartmentsin the buildingand provided with spaces at the bottom of the walls opening against the floors, hinged skirting boards carriedby the walls and normally suspended to enclose said spaces, a cleaning element for movement over said floor and having guide means projecting beneath said skirting boards and intosaid spaces, and-guide rails disposed in said spaces beneath the walls and engaging the guide means of the cleaning element to maintain the latter in position when moved over-the floor. I V I 2. In .a cleaning device for the floors of buildings, a cleaning, element provided to move across the floor, walls defining a compartment on the floor a pair of opposite walls having spaces at their lower ends forlreceiving the opposite ends of the cleaning element, and guide rails mounted on said floor in said spaces beneath the walls and; engaging the opposite ends ofsaid cleaning element to guide the same for uniform movement at opposite ends overthefloor. 3. In a cleamng device for floors, a movable cleaning element for engagement with the floor, walls defining compartments above the floor and having spaces at their lower TWhat I claim as my lIlVBntlOIl, and desire When a permanent fitting, such as fire: Y grate interferes with the clear runof the ends opening against the floor to-receive said cleanmg element for movement between the defined compartments, and skirting boards hinged to the walls; for enclosing the spaces therebeneath and adapted to be raised for admitting passage of the cleaning element beneath the walls. I

' ALLAN RILEY. 

